Dancing Crane, Burning Sea
by Cinereal
Summary: After Stardust killed the apprentices, clan life is further disrupted when Seakit, Brightkit's littermate mysteriously disappears. Seakit begins to unravel the truth while with the Tribe of Burning Darkness- what really happened?
1. Prologue:the Murder

**A/N: I wrote part of this, others were written by people in my warrior role play site. These people were: carrot$, CISASASR, ANGELSTAR. None of them have a Fanfiction account as of 5/22/09. Future chapters will be completely written by me.**

**Prologue **

Silverpaw ran to the Training hollow. There was ferocious growling and snarling. A figure- smelling very familiar was chasing...chasing Bamboopaw! The young cat watched in fascination, but just after the killer had given Bamboopaw a fatal blow, she- or was it a he? - sniffed the air and whirled on the kit. "A witness!" They lunged at the kit. The scent of the leaper was like fox-dung and moss...who was it? Silverkit looked into the eyes of the cat seconds before she died. The pelt color! It was- it was- then all was black for the kit and her throat was ripped out.

Bamboopaw scurried around the Training hollow, but where was her mentor? Suddenly, a strange, yet oddly familiar, scent reached to her noise. The sound of a cat's sharp claws tapped on the ground, rushing right at her. Instinctively, Bamboopaw ran for her life, not daring to look back; she could sense thoughts of claws ripping through fur emanating from the cat. This cat obviously planned to kill her; from the way this cat chased after her, not daring to reveal its voice or to unsheathe its claws. Finally, with the courage of a warrior, the young apprentice turned around and saw..... She gasped. "You? I thought...I thought we could trust you!" Bamboopaw stared. "How could you betray us like this?"  
"It's for the best of SnowClan..." the cat whispered. Bamboopaw lunged at this cat, heart pounding. She clawed fiercely at their pelt, shredding fur and watching their blood flow out like little streams. But the cat was too quick; where had this cat learned their moves? This...this traitor....whirled around, piercing Bamboopaw. Something ended then. Bamboopaw knew there was something terribly wrong. "My last moments..." she whispered softly to herself. "They have come..."

Cranedancer had just come back from the river to wash up when she passed through the training hollow. She spotted the pelts immediately and ran back to camp to get Crystalstar and Freespirit. The entire place stunk of a covered fox scent and rotting moss...the killer had disguised their scent well. _Why look,_ Cranedancer thought, _Bamboopaw is still alive!_

_**C**__**rystalstar ran as fast as she could sliding to a halt as she faced the bleeding body of Bamboopaw.**_**Yet another death,**_**she thought,**_**but this time, the mafia is unknown... who could it be?**

Spottedheart watched from the skies above. "Oh..." she sighed.

Bamboopaw lay on the ground, watching the blood drain out of her. She looked up and saw Crystalstar staring at her, speechless. Glancing around, Bamboopaw spotted Freespirit hurrying towards her, herbs clasped in her mouth. The young apprentice sighed, knowing that no herb could save her now. Looking past her, she saw Cranedancer and Stardust. Suddenly, pain surged through Bamboopaw as death started to overcome her. _How could I ever have trusted her?_ she thought to herself miserably. _I should have known... and now, for my ignorance...I must suffer this punishment... But I was so close... so close to becoming a warrior... _She shut her eyes as a blend of rage and sadness rushed through her. Her life was ending....and it was all because of...that one cat! _And how dare she be standing here, acting like she doesn't know anything about this! _Bamboopaw blinked open her eyes and glared at the traitorous cat. Suddenly, she noticed that she could see the stars, but the sun was still shining as brightly as ever. "StarClan...they're coming for me!" she mewed.

Stardust pondered her meeting with Starclan as she walked back to camp. She blinked a few times. Blood? Had there been a battle?

Cranedancer whirled on Stardust. Grief shone in her eyes as she accused the deputy. "You killed Silverpaw and Bamboopaw! Your own apprentice! You're littermates! How could you?"

Stardust stared. What blasphemy was the ex-rouge spouting?  
"What?"

"Who else? You told me to get them, and you were gone! What have they ever done to you? Scared of competition for deputy?"

"I was at the Moonpool!" Stardust's head whirled. What was going on?  
"Don't lie. You _murdered_them!"

Stardust speechlessly stared at the accusation. That...wasn't...true! But who did?  
The prophecy! Stardust strained to remember. The nonsense of a few minutes ago was very real now. Who was it? Think, think, who was the killer? Stardust stalked forward to the body. She sniffed at the dying apprentice. The odor of moss and fox dung encased the body. There was another scent that barely clung underneath, but certainly not her own.  
"Who was it?" she whispered Bamboopaw tried to squeeze out a word, but blood gurgled in her throat. Something sounding remotely like, "knds."  
Cranedancer stiffened. Stardust suspiciously turned to face the black and white cat, but there was nothing to be told from the she cat's eyes.  
"Knds." Again Bamboopaw tried to rasp the word out.  
Cranedancer's voice cracked as she mewed, "Sleep well little one..."  
Stardust's head spun. She raced from the camp. The Moonpool! She had to consult Starclan.

Bamboopaw glared at Cranedancer. How dare that fox-dung admit that she was going to die? Now she had driven Stardust away!

"KNDS!" Bamboopaw continued to shout, with the knowledge that her voice would never return to normal. No one would be able to hear what she was truly trying to say.

"KNDS!" she yelled into the sky, thought it was no use. Crystalstar remained silent, while Freespirit was too busy preparing herbs. They probably assumed that her shouts were simply cries of pain; at least Stardust understood that she was trying to tell her something. Bamboopaw continued to glare at her attacker, soon to become killer, as she lurked nearby, though in shadow. _If only I could move, so that I may strike back at her and take vengeance for my coming death! If I could only drag Cranedancer to StarClan with me! But wait…that creature does not deserve StarClan! She deserves the Place of No Stars, to walk alone in darkness for all eternity! But...murdering her...that would make me just as bad as her... But it's just not fair!_ _Why does she get to live, while I must die? Why, StarClan? What have I ever done?_ Anger burned in the young apprentice, mingled with thoughts of misery; yet a small hope lit inside of her. Would Stardust be able to figure out her true murderer?

Suddenly, blood rose from her throat, and she could feel it starting to choke her. Bamboopaw's eyes started to cloud, and she struggled for vision, yet the stars still shined as brightly as ever. _StarClan..._she thought. _Please...I beg for mercy...please...just end this torture now..._

Stardust's feet pounded the floor as she ran to the Moonpool.

Bamboopaw shuddered as the pain continued to consume her. She watched as Cranedancer moaned to Crystalstar, anger evident in her voice.

"It was Stardust..." Cranedancer murmured to Crystalstar. "I know...I'm just as shocked as you are..." A fresh wave of anger came over Bamboopaw. _Lies! All lies!_ It's a scheme...but it was working. The Clan would turn against Stardust, and with few capable warriors in the Clan, the killer could rise to deputy. _It's like Tigerstar all over again..._Bamboopaw thought.  
Suddenly, a strong ray of starlight shone, almost blinding the young apprentice's eyes. As her vision cleared, Bamboopaw saw the stars shining brighter than she had ever seen them before. It was time. A cat padded down from the stars and nudged Bamboopaw. Suddenly, she could move! She followed the starry-furred cat on a path towards the stars. Looking back, she saw her own body lying on the ground; Freespirit was still trying to stuff herbs into her mouth, but it was too late. Bamboopaw, feeling a sudden thrill of excitement, continued along the lit path leading up to the sky. The starry-furred cat turned to her. Bamboopaw felt like she knew this cat, from some long-lost memory, but couldn't figure out who it was. The cat spoke, "_Stars will be clouded; fire shall remold it, water shall clean it."_

Then the cat p_a_used, and continued. "Here's another one."

"_Bamboo will be trampled by a merry dance, regrown by fire, and then burn away the festival."_

In the Snowclan nursery, Cranedancer brought in two mewling bundles of fur.

"I found these in the woods, and because of our cat shortage I decided to take them in. Look at how young they are! Wintermoon, could you nurse them?"

**Yes! Prologue done. Working on first chapter, it will be up as soon as I get five reviews. So, review! Constructive criticism is fine =) **


	2. The Light Goes Out to Sea

**Have you noticed that my penname is Stardust-Formerly Dewkit, and a character is also called Stardust? I thought up this story, then named myself after it =)**

(Written in Seakit's POV)

_I must become deputy._

_I must be better than Strawberryfur._

_This competition is close…this is hard. I must work harder! I must become deputy!_

Something furry thumped against my head.

"Wake up! We're going to play the flood! I'm going to be Crystalstar and you be Gingerstar! Cloudkit's going to be Swiftstar, and Autumnkit will be Moonstar. Get up!"

I twitched. My dream…then I sighed and shook the moss out of my fur.

Then I had an idea. Maybe I could continue my dream in this way.

"I don't want to be leader, I want to be Crystalstar's deputy!"

My littermate, Brightkit, cocked her head. I could almost hear her wondering where I got my strange ideas from.

"Um…okay…but who was the deputy at the time of the flood? I don't think Cranedancer joined us yet."

Who _was _the deputy before Cranedancer? It seemed like no one but Cranedancer had ever been deputy before, but I knew that the rouge hadn't come to live with us until a couple of moons ago. So who was the former deputy?

"How about you explain the game to Tsunamikit and Lavenderkit? I know they're young, but they'll understand. I'm going to go ask the elders."

Brightkit hesitated, then brightened. She alone shared my interest in the past.

"If Tsunamikit and Lavenderkit play, then they won't need me. I'll come too!" She scampered off to inform the other kits, then bounced back to me. Together, we headed toward the elder's den.

Halfway there however, we bumped into Cranedancer. I had a sudden impulse to ask her instead.

"Hi Cranedancer! Who was the deputy before you?"

I felt Brightkit cringe next to me. "No…not her!"

Two warriors, Hawkfire and Pebblepath were passing by and stiffened. They stopped, and nervously shuffled their feet. The silver leader seemed to sense something was going on and tossed a sharp glance toward us.

Cranedancer herself gave a start and her gaze seemed to contain a tinge of frost and…fear?

By now, the entire clan seemed to have gathered around. Crystalstar had padded over and watched us. The kits stopped playing and stared, letting an occasional excited squeal and giggle. Every warrior seemed to have heard what was going on lurked around.

There was uncomfortable silence. Brightkit shrunk against me. I stood rigid. I started to space out into a vision.

_The cats of all four clans stared at me. I felt nervous, but I didn't let it on. I met their shocked-_

I was jerked out of my daydream by Cranedancer's voice, who answered at last.

"This is no light joke, little kit."

"Huh?" All I could do was squeak out a reply. A joke?

Now Crystalstar stalked forward.

"How can you ask such a question such as this after all that happened?"

_There is blood all over the camp. Two carcasses lay in the center, more crimson leaking out of them and spreading. Cranedancer whirls on me and-_

"Crystalstar, they don't know about Stardust." Hawkfire spoke up as I squirmed.

There were barely suppressed gasps. Wintermoon and the other queen, Clovespice, herded the kits back in.

"Who's…who's Stardust?"

I felt a strange jolt as I said it.

_Why do you need to ask who she is? _

I shivered. I knew Stardust…how?

Crystalstar glared at me with sea-green eyes that churned with anger. Then she whipped around and left.

The rest of the clan glanced at the floor of the clearing and also left. Only Hawkfire remained. She warily looked me over.

"Hawkfire…who is Stardust?"

Brightkit bumped me. I knew what she was thinking- Not again!

But I really wanted to know.

The ginger tabby gave me a sorrowful glare, then replied, "My mentor and best friend."

Then she turned away.

_I glared at the ginger golden tabby. Her amber eyes glared back at me._

"_Look at what you've done! Why didn't you just carry it out the way you were going to?"_

_My stomach squeezed itself. I wiped my sweaty paws on the grass._

"_Hawkfire…I couldn't, and I'm glad I didn't. They don't deserve that to happen to them. And…we don't need to do this! We don't need to unite the four clans, why should we? Earthquakefall or Goldblossom will become leader of Cloudclan, eventually. I know that Wolfpaw will become leader someday too, with Tornadoclan so small. Mango-"_

_Hawkfire continued to glare at me, venom still concentrated in her angry, hurt eyes._

"_Oh yes, it works out all fine for _you _! What about me? I will never be leader this way!"_

"_I'll make you my deputy!" I wanted to say more, but Hawkfire cut me off._

"_Liar! You wouldn't do that. You want your kin to become leader after you, so you'll choose Bamboopaw, who's also younger."_

_What could I say? What she accused was probably true._

_She continued._

"_It's over. This is over. No traitor is my friend." She bitterly laughed, and then said, "Oh no, don't worry, I won't tell Crystalstar what we were really doing. I'll let her believe your little story. But mark my words…" Hawkfire spat the last phrase at me. "I will get you back."_

I woke with a start. What had that been about?

**Maybe I should write Stardust's story first…have you guessed who Seakit is?**

**Review!**


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